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Chanpuru (potpourri)

When I was still stateside and wanted to do a post with a variety of different topics, I’d call it potpourri. I’m in Okinawa, where there is no potpourri. I don’t miss it. Here, there is chanpuru. A mix. So it is.

ESPN’s uber-columnist Bill Simmons’ latest is about how cheating in baseball affects the Hall of Fame. If only someone had written a book including this subject. A guide of sorts, one might say. A “cheater’s guide,” if you will, to baseball.

All I know is, I went for a hike at a waterfall yesterday. I drove two hours to get to said waterfall. At the base of the trail was a vending machine (I know, I know, that’s a whole other issue). Shinjo was staring at me, urging me to buy coffee. I’m allergic to coffee. Bite me, Shinjo.

Only a month to spring training. Japanese spring training, that is.

Also, Rick Rizzs evidently grew a goatee. How are we supposed to tell him apart from Evil Rick Rizzs now? This development heralds a triumphant return; I can smell it. Or maybe that’s just natto.

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29 Responses to “Chanpuru (potpourri)”

msb on
January 4th, 2007 8:20 am

If only someone had written a book including this subject. A guide of sorts, one might say. A â€œcheaterâ€™s guide,â€ if you will, to baseball.

too bad, because it would be so timely, what with the HOF announcements coming ….

Also, Rick Rizzs evidently grew a goatee. How are we supposed to tell him apart from Evil Rick Rizzs now?

Oh, come now, the best Shinjo appearance of this year, period, was when he went on SMAPxSMAP. and tried to learn to be a boy band dancing star, among other things. Good god, I’ve rewatched that show like three times and I still can’t stop laughing. Funniest thing ever.

Anyway, he’s got a lot of ad campaigns going on these days. I was pretty terrified by Shinjo in cardboard cutout mode. I have no idea if those have been deployed around the land yet though.

It’s better than last year when some of the Hokkaido papers were talking about Shinjo coming to manage the Fighters after he retired, at least…

(sigh, with Ogasawara AND Shinjo gone I don’t know who’s going to be my new Good vs. Evil on the team this year. Inaba vs. Hichori, maybe…)

joser on
January 4th, 2007 12:03 pm

Also, Rick Rizzs evidently grew a goatee. How are we supposed to tell him apart from Evil Rick Rizzs now?

Are we sure he doesn’t grow one every offseason? Perhaps he really is Evil Rick Rizzs, and he just shaves the beard and puts on the Willy-lovin’ non-Evil persona for the season. (If so, if the M’s are as bad as they promise to be there’s a chance the Evil One will bust out like some kind of auditory Hulk…)

Oh, come now, the best Shinjo appearance of this year, period, was when he went on SMAPxSMAP. and tried to learn to be a boy band dancing star, among other things. Good god, Iâ€™ve rewatched that show like three times and I still canâ€™t stop laughing. Funniest thing ever.

Personally, I think a goatee is a sign of intelligence. The man who scratches his goatee in thought looks like he is pondering the meaning of life or doing mental calculations of Willie Bloomquist’s 2008 PECOTA projection.

Can you do that without a goatee? I Think Not.

scott47a on
January 4th, 2007 1:25 pm

Does Evil Rick Rizzs come with the hair pieces, or without?
Can you buy them as add-ons with the action figure?

Manzanillos Cup on
January 4th, 2007 1:44 pm

Remember when Shinjo almost got voted an all-star? He was the original Rory Fitzpatrick.

Dash on
January 4th, 2007 1:58 pm

John Heyman is reporting that the D-Backs and Yanks are close to a deal for the Big Unit. Yanks would be getting quite a haul to from the names mentioned.

The D-backs will send veteran reliever Luis Vizcaino and a pitching prospect in exchange for Johnson. It’s believed that the Yankees will include some money in the deal to help Arizona defray the cost of Johnson’s $16 million salary for 2007. The pitching prospect will likely come from a group of Ross Ohlendorf, Micah Owings or Dustin Nippert. It’s unknown whether the D-backs will include another lower-level Minor Leaguer in the deal.

Dash on
January 4th, 2007 2:30 pm

Fox says Vizcaino, Ohlendorf, and SS Alberto Gonzalez, with the possibility of another minor league pitcher to boot.

I’d rather have Vidro DH than Shinjo. If they could make Shinjo into a Designated Fielder, he’d probably be better off. Though, I would rather have had Shinjo on my team than Willie Bloomquist in any league in any country…

And yes, I was part of the whole “We signed who?? WHY?!?” group when the Fighters first signed Shinjo in 2004. I never thought it’d happen, but I grew to like the guy over the last few years, even though I still think he’s batshit insane most of the time.

I don’t think he’ll actually run for office, anyway. Despite how he acts, I think he knows exactly how qualified he is for most things (including playing baseball, which is why he retired).

km4_1999 on
January 4th, 2007 2:50 pm

Management issues aside, I would have liked to see the M’s in the discussion for Randy if he was open to coming back. The D-backs didn’t give up anything real to get him. Would have been nice to have him for 2 years.

msb on
January 4th, 2007 2:51 pm

#20– so he should just drift though life, perhaps accompanied by a theme song such as this old song from Forum:

I’m lovely,
All I am is lovely.
Lovely is the one thing I can do.

Winsome,
What I am is winsome,
Radiant as in some
Dream come true.

Oh, Isn’t it a shame?
I can neither sew
Nor cook nor read or write my name.
But I’m happy
Merely being lovely,
For it’s one thing I can give to you.

22 – you have absolutely no idea how close I’ve been to writing “Pretty Little Roster” to the tune of the obvious song from that musical… I didn’t think there were enough other Sondheim geeks in the blogosphere to get it, though.

oh – #7, now that I am at home and can actually see YouTube (it’s banned at work), yeah, that’s the Idol Gakuen part of that show where they were singing and dancing, but the rest of the hour-long episode was even funnier. The most disturbing part was how well Shinjo fit in with the group…